She
by Kiwisilence
Summary: "Camilla was the protagonist of this love story: Faendal just had to eliminate the competition..." Brief transgender Camilla/Faendal romance.


This fic will be at most 6 chapters to go along with the EP (_She_ by S. Maharba) that inspired it. I recommend any of his music. I want to deconstruct Camilla as a Mary Sue-like character not just in descriptions of her, but by the twist of her being transgender later in the story.

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Chapter 1: She

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It was common knowledge in Riverwood that Camilla and Lucan Valerius didn't get along. In fact, no one had ever seen the two together. They were less a family and more so two people chained to each other. There seemed to be no familial bond keeping them together in the store. If Camilla was being threatened to stay and help him, no one would have been surprised.

Camilla was just too free-spirited for Lucan. She was feistier, wittier, and more rebellious: everything her dour brother was not.

The reason behind their disagreements continued to elude the people of Riverwood, but it sure made for good gossip. They all preferred Camilla over Lucan, even Hod and Gerdur, despite their hostility towards Imperials. If anyone was worthy of being considered an honorary Nord, it could only be Camilla. Her personality, a mix of of the sweetest juniper berry with a touch of the wildness of a sabertooth, was like the Nords in Riverwood. By contrast, Lucan was a standard, garden-variety Imperial. He was condescending and had that silver-tongue to deceive the woodcutters out of a fair deal.

Lucan hoarded money whereas Camilla was over-generous. She valued her friendships more than wealth.

When she had arrived, friendships quickly blossomed with the other townspeople. In time, she became the object of all the men's affection. Camilla wasn't almost just a human anymore; she was a goddess-like idol for the men to obtain. Her presence amongst them felt as if she had been rewritten into the true, original story of Riverwood: she seemed too good to be trapped here.

There were no other woman to compete against her in Riverwood. Sigrid and Gerdur were married and unlike the debauchery of the Imperials like Lucan, commitment was respected. Marriages might be temporary with the war and dragon attacks, but the Nords held firmly to their traditions. Other than the two married woman, Hilde could not be considered a romantic option.

It would have taken some divine or profane, Daedric force to rewrite and force the men of Riverwood to love her. Hilde was old enough to be mistaken for a Hagraven.

Those women only made Camilla seem ever-more beautiful: the lone, luscious rose in a field of dying daisies.

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Camilla stood bored in the shop, awaiting another day of nonexistent customers. Only the handful of few who came to trade in Riverwood would shop at the store. Other than them, Riverwood's people and the now-famous Dragonborn were her main clients.

She was thankful for them, because they allowed her enough money to maintain the store, but their visits were predictable. The women never went out of their way to spend time with her unless it involved buying something for their husbands. Although she Camilla looked down on gossip, she still yearned to be apart of their circle.

Only the men came frequently to her store, much to her bewilderment. She loved having friends to chat with, breaking open Lucan's precious bottles of Cyrodilic brandy. The only reason she didn't like the men more was that they rarely bought anything. Camilla could not deal with another tantrum from Lucan over her lack of sales.

To him, she seemed like a common seductress and not his chaste sister.

Camilla couldn't do anything to discourage them from coming. No amount of ignoring them worked; it was just not in her heart. Even the slightest rude word felt wrong on her lips and was quickly regretted.

Interrupting her ruminations, the door to the shop quickly opened, revealing Faendal. The elf smiled at her, adjusting the bow in his holster.

"Hunting again, I see?" She smiled at him; no reaction was faked. Of all of the men in Riverwood, she could identify with Faendal the most.

Neither were Nords and as much as she wanted to befriend them, she could admit to major cultural differences. The Nords liked her, but even for someone more adventurous like herself, they were too battle-ready. They lived to fight. As much as her Nord friends spoke of wanting the Civil War to end, their culture depended on war. Everything was always a test of strength amongst them. No Jarl lasted long; the typical ruler's dynasty started and ended with themselves here. The Civil War had caused several Jarls to be dethroned and replaced, but in a decade or less, few of them would still be ruling.

That was why she liked Faendal: both were fairly stable and kind-hearted.

"Just practice," Faendal replied, returning her smile. "I could hunt a deer for you tomorrow. You deserve it."

"You're too kind. There is plenty of food here anyways. Lucan would feel left-out."

She didn't know why she did it: defend her brother even to a trusted friend. Lucan had forced her to move here, work in the store, and continued to define her life. Camilla had little independence because of him. Without Lucan, her life would be as free as the flowing breezes of Skyrim.

It was sadly poetic.

Faendal scrunched his eyebrows, disapproving. "You shouldn't defend him."

"He's my brother, Faendal."

Camilla stared at him, her eyes pleading to end the subject. Enough had been said. Camilla was a friendly person and despite the immense troubles with her brother, she still valued kinship.

"Some day you won't have to deal with him. This shop could be yours or you could leave and do anything you want."

"Maybe, Faendal. I shouldn't ask for more. I'm happy here in Riverwood with friends."

Faendal gave her another one of those strange stares. She couldn't quite place what it meant. It wasn't hostile, but his expression wasn't a typical, friendly smile. Faendal's eyes could dart at her as if they wanted to devour Camilla.

"You deserve more."

"Just as I deserve a deer? How long would you have to hunt? I'm not worth the effort."

Camilla didn't know what in her appealed to the elf. She was not a fair, tall maiden from the Summerset Isles nor was she a sultry, wild Dunmer woman. Camilla was an Imperial, what she considered to be the plainest of the races. The Imperials must have been the last race created by the Divines, utterly devoid of the creativity spent on the elves like Faendal.

"You are and I won't repeat it."

"Fine. I deserve more." Camilla laughed, trying to defuse the seriousness of the situation. She didn't want to delve further into where the conversation was heading. "Let's have some wine. I know you certainly have a problem with drinking all of Lucan's stash..."

She droned off, looking to Faendal. The elf's expression eased back into his normally cherry self. Camilla clung too strongly to this friendship, but even if it had times like these, she still loved having the elf with her.

* * *

Two hated rivals stood together. The very sight of Faendal and Sven together in the Nord's house made the former laugh despite the gravity of the situation.

"Something needs to be done about Lucan."

"I won't compose an verbose ballad of how I feel about you. I'll say in it words you can understand: I hate you and why should I help?" Sven said to the elf, but without the typical venom. Even the Nord could not hide his curiosity of having been asked to meet up with Faendal.

"Fine. But you and I both want the same woman. Neither of us will ever get her with Lucan in the way."

"If you're resorting to common tricks and deceit to get Camilla, I will have no part of it." Sven crossed his arms and glared at the elf.

"Yes you will. Remember that precious letter? Or do I need to send the Dragonborn back here to remind you?"

The two men continued to stare, having a battle of glares. Sven was the first to crack, looking away dejectedly.

"What do you have in mind to deal with Lucan?"

"Well..." Faendal paused, over-eager and extremely surprised that Sven had even agreed.

There was no act too fowl for him to commit if Camilla was the end result. To both of the men, her beauty was worthy of any ballad, any royal sculpture...

Camilla was the protagonist of this love story: Faendal just had to eliminate the competition to earn her attention. All would be well when she finally returned his love. The true hero would finally win his fair maiden.

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AN: I'm on a weird, darker trend of Elder Scrolls fics lately. Anyways, there will be more of a plot twist then just relieving that Camilla is transgender. Since this will be a very short fic, are there any guesses to what other secrets Camilla could have?


End file.
